Morale Entertainment Foundation's Mike Whalen said that tickets "won't be sold to the public" for the North Carolina-Michigan State men's basketball game that will be played on an aircraft carrier on San Diego Bay on Veterans Day, according to Bernie Wilson of the AP. Tickets will be "free to those lucky enough to be chosen, and scalpers will be out of luck." Whalen said that ticket holders' names "will be printed on the front, and ID must match." Whalen: "It's an added measure of security. Again, this is a United States warship. We've got to make sure we know who's coming onboard the ship." Each school "will get 750 tickets, 400 will go to coaches participating in a clinic and 1,000 will go to" event organizer the Morale Entertainment Foundation and its partners: the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society, Wounded Warrior Project and the San Diego Air & Space Museum. A court and stadium seating for about 7,000 fans "will be set up on the flight deck." In case of rain, the game "will be moved below to the hangar deck, with bleacher seating for the fans." Whalen added that organizers are planning a "post-game concert on the carrier." Organizers "won't know until much closer to the Nov. 11 game which aircraft carrier will serve as host," though Whalen said that it "probably will be the USS Ronald Reagan or the USS Carl Vinson." Wilson noted each school is "giving up a home date -- and the money it would have made." Whalen said that "talks with ESPN to broadcast the game should be finalized this week." As officials are "finalizing plans for this year's game, they're looking to make it a multiyear deal." There also is "potential for a women's game in 2012 or '13, likely between Ohio State and Notre Dame" (AP, 4/25).
